Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the northern Gaza Strip on Monday and told troops stationed there that the war against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas would continue “until the end,” in a veiled reference to Egypt’s offer of a two-week ceasefire. Israel and Hamas appear to have refused, EFE reports.

Hamas is making any new hostage exchange deal conditional on a permanent ceasefire, an option Israel rejects as it intends to continue the war until the Islamist group is destroyed, Agerpres reports.

Netanyahu was briefed on the amount of ammunition, weapons and tunnels by troops of the 261st Brigade, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.

Netanyahu’s visit inside the enclave, his second since the start of the war, coincides with the 80th day of fighting and the first message from Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who said it was a “fierce, violent battle” and unprecedented” against Israel.

At least 20,674 Gazans, including more than 8,000 children, have been killed and more than 54,536 wounded in the two-and-a-half-month offensive, and 7,500 corpses, according to the latest count from the Hamas-controlled health ministry. will be found under rubble.

About a hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent hours during massive Israeli strikes in Gaza, according to Hamas.

According to the latest official Israeli figures, the offensive, the bloodiest in Israel’s history against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, was launched in response to an attack on its territory on October 7, which killed about 1,140 people, mostly civilians. Palestinian commandos also kidnapped about 250 people, of which 129 are hostages.

The Israeli army and politicians have promised to destroy Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization, especially by the United States and the European Union, writes AFP.

Before dawn on Monday, the Israeli air force heavily bombed Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, two years after Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005 from the territory it had occupied for 38 years.

According to the Hamas Health Ministry, one of the strikes near the small village of Al-Zawaida (center) killed 12 people, and another killed at least 18 people in Khan Younis (south).

According to the same source, at least 70 people were killed in an attack on the Al-Maghazi refugee camp on Sunday night.

On the Israeli side, the army announced the deaths of two soldiers, bringing the total number of casualties since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza on October 27, 20 days after the aerial bombardment began, to 156.

We are paying a very high price for the war, but we have no choice but to continue fighting,” Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on Sunday.

Despite growing calls for a ceasefire, a difficult humanitarian balance sheet and a humanitarian crisis described by the UN and NGOs as catastrophic, Israel’s prime minister remains inflexible.